CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

This research work is on the effects of Drug Abuse among University undergraduates in Nigeria. It appears that not only the use of drugs that create problems but rather their misuse. In other words the widespread use of drugs has not only turned our attention to the dynamics of drug use and its determinants but also made it necessary to weigh the impact of this process on social institutions and social charge in future generations.

Drug abuse according to Laver (1978) simply means the improper use of drugs to the degree that the consequences are defined as detrimental to the user and or the society. The World Health Organization (WHO (2006) also defined drug abuse as a “state” of periodic or chronic intoxication, detrimental to the individual and to the society, produced by the repeated consumption of a drug (natural or synthetic).

Drug abuse patterns include all aspect of drug usage by the youths ranging from how much, how often and what sort of drugs, where who, with, what circumstances and so on. The analysis of contemporary social problem has consistently proved more and more controversial

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because of the variables involve in their analysis, with the incidence of drug abuse, being of utmost concern to the abuser himself, his family, the government and the entire society in which he lives. This situation seems to have caused a lot of embarrassment to the government including most especially the damage done to the image of Nigerian abroad. It is obvious that custom officials in the United States of America and indeed the entire Nations of Europe subject the people of Nigeria traveling to their countries to a more thorough and embarrassing checks. This type of degrading and humiliating examination of Nigerians according to them is because they want to crack down on smugglers of which Nigerians are the chief suspects due to the hard drug trafficking posture exhibited by some greedy Nigerians.

Furthermore, Nigerian societies has defined some drugs as acceptable while others as not acceptable without reference to their effects on mental and physical wellbeing of t the of the users, for example, society considers the use of alcohol and nicotine as acceptable, hence those of them who take these drugs do so freely in public without fear of arrest or society stigma.

To the society as a whole, crime, promiscuity, armed robbery and other vices are all linked to drug abuse. Therefore this study is motivated by

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the controversy that surrounds the effect of drug abuse among University undergraduates in Nigeria.

1.2    STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Drug abuse in Nigeria in the contemporary time has become one issue that cast a gloomy shadow to the entire Nigerian society especially among University undergraduates. The height of drug trafficking in Nigeria was witnessed in 1985 under the military regime. During this period, it was mostly the University undergraduates that were caught and the first to be executed for drug offences under the “special tribunal (Miscellaneous Offences) Degree No. 20 of 1984. However, the abuse of drugs is not only limited to the University undergraduates as alien phenomenon is to distort its significance.

Nevertheless, the usage of drug either by University undergraduates or other members of the larger society in all its ramifications appears to be a social problem. This problem is widely spread and it affect all and sundry. In other words, this wide spread use and abuse entice people from all walks of life and beyond the human destruction caused by drug dependence is the damage to traditional values and lifestyles. Studies have also shown that drug abuse wrecks individual, shatter families and weakens entire society with its burden of economic looses, health cost and increased lawlessness and crime.

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Also, drugs seem to undermine the ability of University undergraduates to learn. Drug also appears to contradict our values of physical wellbeing. People experiment with drugs because they seem to hold the promise of fulfillment. But the fulfillment is generally elusive, greater and greater quantities are consumed and ultimately the person suffers both physical and psychological deterioration. The drug abuser also experience problems of interaction and this interactional problem is encountered both inside his immediate family and stress invariably is created in the family situation of drug abuse (Hoffman, 1990).

To add to this, drug abuse may entail a lot of social problems ranging from lateness to lectures, family neglect, deviance behaviours, involvement in crime etc (Earl 2000). In terms of economic cost, it includes the more money required to deal with the undesirable effects of the drug abuse, the less money for services and programmes that enhances the quality of life (Earl 2000).

One of the factors militating against the eradication of drug abuse among our University undergraduates is that our security agencies, such as the police force, National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies among others have not done enough to check this scourge. Another factor militating against the eradication of drug abuse among Nigerian University

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undergraduates is the problem of corruption among the men and officials of these fore mentioned agencies.

To this end and judging from the problems outlined earlier, this research aims at ascertaining the effect of drug abuse among University undergraduates in Nigeria using the University of Calabar, Cross River State as a study area.

1.3    RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research questions will guide the study.

1.   What are the common drugs likely to be abused by undergraduate students in the contemporary Nigeria society?

2.   What are the major reasons accountable for engagement of undergraduate students in drug abuse in Nigeria?

3.   What are the likely implications for undergraduate‟s involvement in drug abuse?

4.   What are the measures that can be used to eradicate drug abuse among University undergraduates in Nigeria?

1.4    MAJOR OBJECTIVE

To determine the effect of drugs abused by undergraduates in Nigeria

1.   To find out the drugs that is commonly abused by undergraduate students in Nigeria.

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2.   To find out the implications for undergraduates involvement on drug abuse.

3.   To identify of this study also aims at looking at some of the measures aimed at eradicating the drug abuse problem among University undergraduates in Nigeria.

4.   To ascertain the reasons why drugs are been abused by the University undergraduates in Nigeria.

1.5    SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY